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Bankruptcies soar among the elderly

A 2018 study has shown that bankruptcies among the elderly have increased over the last several years at a significant rate. From 1991 to 2016, the study indicated that bankruptcies of people 65 and older have increased at a rate 204 percent. Further, the study found that the percentage of seniors when looking at all bankruptcies had increased five times over the 25 year time period.

The study determined that there are several causes to the increase in bankruptcy filings among the elderly. There are several, but these are the main reasons include:

Increased healthcare costs — News stories about increased healthcare costs are in the papers often. Every year services that Medicare used to cover, are now not covered. Also, the cost of supplemental health insurance and co-pays have gone up under Medicare. So, the amount of money that comes out of the elderly’s pockets is increasing. There are many services that Medicare does not cover: Dental care, long term care, foot care, hearing aids, eye exams for glasses and many more.

Reduced incomes — Despite corporate profits increasing year over year, wages of workers over the last 20 years have been stagnant. So, people are making less money. With less money comes less savings. Therefore, seniors have less savings for retirement and less money for medical bills that are not covered by Medicare.

Decline of pensions — Over the last 50 years the use of pensions by companies have declined significantly. This lowers the amount of money available for retirees.

The team at Morgan & Morgan is there to help you through your financial issues and answer any bankruptcy questions you may have. You can contact us at (706) 752-7089.

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